A Brick in the Valley

One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.

In the coming weeks, I have asked several pastors to introduce us to their churches.  Today I am introducing Jeremy Carr and Oxford Bible Fellowship.  It is Jeremy’s good fortune to be married to one of the loveliest young ladies on earth, our niece Michelle McWilliams Carr. 

In addition to the fact that our niece is the pastor’s wife, another exciting aspect of Oxford Bible Fellowship is that it is located adjacent to the campus of Miami.  The church has an exciting ministry with college students.

Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site.

We are located in Oxford, Ohio, 30 minutes north of Cincinnati.  Our church is on the corner of the campus of Miami University.  www.obf.org

How long have you been the pastor there?

Two and a half years.

Tell us about your family.

This March, celebrating 9 years of marriage to Chris Brauns’ niece Michelle.  She’s beautiful and loyal like crazy.  We have 3 little girls: Lexys (5), Sydney (3), Quinn (1).  We don’t sleep.  We do watch a lot of princess movies.  I’m trying to talk Michelle into a dog or an SUV.

Is there a blog or web site where we can read more about you?

Well, blogged like a dying man for 3 months, then I guess I said everything I know, but here is the address: http://jeremyacarr.blogspot.com/

What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church?  Is that identity changed?

The church was started by a group of Miami professors and their wives, including Edwin Yamauchi, who is still at the church.  It started with a Brethren model of no paid pastors, but as it grew hired pastors. I’m just the third senior pastor in 40 years.  In 2001, the church joined the EFCA.   I’m pretty reformed theologically, so that has been a change in the past couple years.  Probably not as much of a change as an increased emphasis on theology and the Bible.

Are there any other pastoral staff?

We have staffed more with support staff and directors (children, youth, worship) that are mostly part-time.  But we are about to hire a Pastor of Community Life.

Briefly, what is your approach to preaching?  Do you topical series?  Book by book?

Exposition through books interspersed with series (relationships, stewardship, etc.), but typically the series focus on an exposition of a particular text.  I try to balance OT series with NT series.  In 2 1/2 years I have done Daniel, Nehemiah, Colossians, and Ephesians.  God needs to speak.  He uses me as a preacher, but he speaks through His Word by the power of the Spirit.

What is currently being preached on at your church?  Can we listen online?

"Walk Worthy" Ephesians 4-6.  You can listen by visiting www.obf.org and clicking on Messages.

What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?

Full band with a mix of main stream songs and hymns.  Hymns are usually set to modern music.  Our criteria has more to do with content (God-centered songs) than style, although style is also important.

Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?

By God’s grace we are doing our best to faithfully teach His Word in a relevant way.  We emphasize Christ, the Gospel, and relational Christian living.  We seek to minister to every member of the family.  We long to change our community and world for Christ. 

Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.

Being in a college town, one of my deepest joys is baptizing students who have given their lives to Christ.  Our church really responds to this, and it builds our faith.  I just baptized 4 students a few weeks ago and hearing their excitement is contagious. 

An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

One of the reasons that missions is happening at the Red Brick Church in the way that it is happening is because of Dick’s leadership.  But, Dick and Shirley also mean a great deal here.

When I read a one paragraph summary like this one, I am amazed at the beauty of the Body of Christ.

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Dick & Shirley have been my heroes for several years.  I first really got to know them when they had a Bible study in their home. Later, they came to the hospital and sat with me when my son was in intensive care.  They have prayed for me and my family during many difficult times.  They have been here for me in a caring and non-judgmental way: through my bouts of depression and job loss and my son’s bad life choices and during his recovery from drug addiction.  When my mom was sick and later died I was so comforted by their prayers and their love. And the food they brought too.  Their hugs and phone calls and love have made them heroes to me.

Monday is for meeting other churches and pastors

One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.

In the coming weeks, I have asked several pastors to introduce us to their churches.  One of the real highlights for me in ministry in recent years was the opportunity to speak for Manor Park Church in England.  What struck me most about this church is how close they are as church family.  (You can see a picture of Roy and I on the right at Malvern Hill).  Not only did I enjoy preaching on forgiveness – - I was also entertained by their talent show.

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Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site.

Our church is in Worcester, England, which is in the Midlands of England, www.manorparkchurch.org

How long have you been the pastor there?

Three and a half years.

Tell us about your family.

One wonderful wife, Yvonne, four boys from 18 to 8.

Is there a blog or web site where we can read more about you?

There’s a little bit of stuff on our website.

What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church? Is that identity changed?

Evangelical-conservative-reformed.

Are there any other pastoral staff?

One assistant, Ryan Muliette.

Briefly, what is your approach to preaching? Do you topical series? Book by book?

Varied! Mainly exegetical, but can be topical.

What is currently being preached on at your church? Can we listen online?

“The Walk of Faith: lessons from the life of Abraham” Yes.

What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?

Contemporary with traditional.

Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?

Because we are Gospel centred with a passion to reach out with the Good News.

Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.

About a year ago a 27 year old member was instantly killed in a cycle accident. The way his parents and friends passed through the trial with faith, hope and even joy has been an amazing witness to those around.

An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

This week’s ordinary hero comes from Alice Daniels.  You can read her blog here.

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I first met Doris Freese in the basement of our church when I was a pre-schooler and she was the children’s Sunday school superintendent. I have a very clear memory of her getting the children’s families together to make Advent wreaths and telling us what they meant and why they were important. She had a passion for children learning about and participating in worship.

I didn’t see her again until many years later when I walked into a Christian Education course in college–she was the professor and she remembered me from pre-school. She now was fighting cancer and wearing a wig because of ongoing chemo treatments, but she was completely invested in passing on the torch: educating a new generation of students how to teach children about the faith. (We women also liked it when she fixed the guys in the class with her steely gaze and said, "You think you want a Proverbs 31 woman? You better make sure you’re an Ephesians 5 man!")

Doris Freese has been in heaven for quite a few years now, but I still feel her influence in the way I teach both children in Sunday School and my own children. We have a family Advent wreath because she taught me how and why as a little girl. She brought children’s worship up out of the basement of the church and into the forefront of people’s consciousness.

Alice

One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.

In the coming weeks, I have asked several pastors to introduce us to their churches.

I met Matt Mitchell through the Internet.  And, I have appreciated stopping by his blog.  It is so exciting for me to read an interview like this one and know that all over our great country, there are pastors raising families and churches that are all about Christ.  Notice that Matt has been the pastor of his church for over 12 years.  Congratulations! There is a great story at the end of this post.  You can read more about it over on Matt’s blog.

Make no mistake: faithful churches like this one are the backbone of our country.

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Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site. 

Lanse Evangelical Free Chuch is located in Central Pennsylvania parked along Interstate 80 about 130 miles from the Ohio border.  We’re just up over the mountain from Penn State University.  A lot of our folks work in the trucking industry.

How long have you been the pastor there?

I’ve been the pastor at LEFC since 1998 (a dozen years!).  I’m the longest serving pastor that this church has had in its 118 year history.

Tell us about your family.

My wife is Heather.  She is an amazing woman, full of wisdom and beauty.  We’ve got 4 kids: Robin (age 9.5), Andrew (age 8), Peter (age 6), and Isaac (age 5).  You read it right.  That’s 4 in 4 years!  We homeschool, live on 5 wooded acres, heat with wood, keep chickens, and play a lot.  We also love to read.

Is there a blog or web site where we can read more about you?

My blog is matt-mitchell.blogspot.com.  It’s called "Hot Orthodoxy" and it’s about loving the Lord with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength.  And there are pictures of our family up there, too.

What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church?  Is that identity changed?

We’re a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America.  Originally a merger of Swedish (like our church) and Norwegian/Danish churches in 1950, it has truly become an "all-people" association of churches.  Our mission statement is : glorifying God by multiplying healthy churches among all people.  We are gospel-centered and own the seminary called Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the Chicago area.

Are there any other pastoral staff?

I’m it!  We’ve had some great ministry interns here over the years, but I’m the only pastor for about 130 worshipers on a Sunday (more than that call this church home).

Briefly, what is your approach to preaching?  Do you topical series?  Book by book?

I try to vary the diet of preaching, but the main course is book by book expositional preaching. 

I take breaks from that to preach topical series (even those are expositional, though!).  This last Summer we did one on Money.

I’ve got a long-term plan of preaching through the Big Story of the Old Testament.  In odd numbered years, we do the next big book that carries on the narrative.  Genesis (2003), Exodus (2005), Numbers (2007), Joshua (2009), etc.

My goal is to feed my people the solid food of the Word and watch them grow!

What is currently being preached on at your church?  Can we listen online?

We’re in the Gospel of Luke right now, have been since September.  Will be all year.  Then we’ll go to Acts.

You can read the manuscripts on my blog:  matt-mitchell.blogspot.com and we podcast the audio here:  http://www.sermoncloud.com/lanse-evangelical-free-church/

What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?

We have a worship team that leads us in contemporary music and traditional hymns which are projected on a screen up front.  We also have a song leader who leads us in hymns from the hymnal.  We’re not that exciting–no drums!  But we do have guitars, bass, keyboard, and a number of voices in the worship choir.  We sing popular songs that are playing on Christian radio (Chris Tomlin), a lot of Sovereign Grace Music (Bob Kauflin), and almost always an older song or two.  My favorite is when we sing "voices only!"  That’s the best instrument of worship.

Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?

We are trying to follow Christ.  Our church exists to glorify God by bringing people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

We’re nothing too fancy, but we are real.  And we’re a loving bunch of folks–loved by Christ and learning to love others.

Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.

I never expected to share the gospel with Craig “Tiny” Older. Tiny, a professional tattoo artist and a biker, weighed more than 500 pounds and came from a Jewish background. Needless to say, Tiny and I didn’t have much in common except that his wife attended our church.

When Tiny was in the hospital a few years ago, I went to visit. I thought it would be a quick “in-and-out” because he had never shown signs of spiritual interest. But Tiny knew that his condition was serious, and he surprised me by asking for the gospel. That began an adventurous relationship for me—making friends with and making a disciple of a Jewish biker tattoo artist.

When my friend Tiny finally died in 2006, I had the privilege of speaking at his memorial. His entire biker gang, a scary-looking bunch, showed up for the service. But our people never missed a beat. They opened their arms wide. They made our visitors a meal, sat right next to them and welcomed each one.

Standing behind Tiny’s Harley®, up front in our church, I had the opportunity to share the gospel. That was the highlight of my ministry year.

-Matt Mitchell

An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

This week’s ordinary hero is submitted by Mary Pluhar who blogs as The Farmer’s Wife.  I grew up around some people like this, and they are the salt of the earth.  If I ever visit this community in Montana, I might buy Thelma and Mary and their husbands a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.  Otherwise, 5th Tree, Right Side Facing the Throne.

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If she knew I was writing this, she would put her head on the table, blushing, then pick it up and give me “the look”. That’s because my friend Thelma is the epitome of “behind the scenes”. When Chris asked me to write about someone who has been a quiet hero, an encourager of faith, I truly didn’t expect it to be one of my contemporaries*. Don’t you always think of little white haired old ladies who have been at your church so long no one in the congregation remembers a time they WEREN’T in the second pew, third seat? I dug around in my memory for one of those. But then, God knocked on my head and put into my heart, my friend Thelma.

I really don’t know how to describe Thelma in any way that would do her justice. She’s warm, funny, Scottish, strong to her core, and humble beyond anyone I’ve ever met. I’ve truly never heard her say anything derogatory about anyone, and there were times I wanted to say it for her! But she wouldn’t allow it. She’s a ranchwife which entails long days outside working alongside her husband and two sons, followed by long evenings making sure they get fed and clean clothes.

After all that, Thelma quietly slips behind the piano at her church and faithfully plays every Sunday. She plays for most of the funerals and weddings in our little town, too, because it’s often impossible to find anyone who will play in public. If one of our community members is sick or has a loved one pass, there will be a casserole or rolls slipped in the door along with a note of encouragement. I see her in the 4-H booths, volunteering her help at our county fair, and baking for bakesales. But you’ll never see her accepting awards or looking for recognition in the programs that are handed out.

Some people say they’ll pray for you, and you never really know. Some people say to call anytime, and are not ever able to work you in their schedules when you do. Thelma has quietly shown me what it means to love God and those He created, with integrity and joy. God’s hands are Thelma’s hands, working, playing, helping and comforting.

*Just so the whole world knows, Thelma and I are not anywhere near the white haired old lady stage. I can’t reveal our ages, exactly, but I will tell you that we were acquainted with legwarmers and really big bangs in high school. You can figure it out from there…

Tim Keller is one of the wisest pastoral voices today in the Western hemisphere.  Read his thoughts about what the Western church faces in the days to come:

1. The opportunity for extensive culture-making in the U.S. In an interview, sociologist Peter Berger observed that in the U.S. evangelicals are shifting from being largely a blue-collar constituency to becoming a college educated population.

His question is–will Christians going into the arts, business, government, the media, and film a) assimilate to the existing baseline cultural narratives so they become in their views and values the same as other secular professionals and elites, or b) will they seal off and privatize their faith from their work so that, effectively, they do not do their work in any distinctive way, or c) will they do enough new Christian ‘culture-making’ in their fields to change things? (See http://www.virginia.edu/iasc/HHR_Archives/AfterSecularization/8.12PBerger.pdf)

2. The rise of Islam. How do Christians relate to Muslims when we live side by side in the same society? The record in places like Africa and the Middle East is not encouraging! This is more of an issue for the western church in Europe than in the U.S., but it is going to be a growing concern in America as well.

How can Christians be at the very same time a) good neighbors, seeking their good whether they convert or not, and still b) attractively and effectively invite Muslims to consider the gospel?

3. The new non-western Global Christianity. The demographic center of Christian gravity has already shifted from the west to Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

More here.

Usually after church, our seven year old rides home with me.  We go to my study.  I take off my microphone and organize for a couple of minutes.  She raids the mints, and we talk.

Sunday, she asked me to explain again what I mean when I talk about the people in our church being bricks.  I said, “Well, the Bible (1 Peter 2:5) says that we are living stones being built into a spiritual house.  The point is that God makes bricks with a building in mind.  He never intended that you would be isolated from other Christians, but that you would be a part of the whole building.”

Mary Beth thought about this for a couple of minutes and said, “Or, we might say that Christians are like pages in a book.”

The more I think about it, the more I like it.  If you are a believer, then you are written into the story of God’s people.  Your individual page is part of the greatest story ever written.

Monday is for meeting other churches and pastors.  One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.

This week I would like to introduce you to Deek Dubberly.  I know Deek through the Internet.  He recently posted something on forgiveness that caught my attention.  I am so deeply encouraged to hear of modest churches where a young pastor and his wife are enthusiastically serving.

Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site.

• Bay Minette, AL
• http://eastwoodbaptistonline.com/

How long have you been the pastor there?

• Voted in 9.20.09
• So just over four months

Tell us about your family.

• Married Lauren on 4.11.09
• no children
• one spoiled weiner dog named Cooper

Is there a blog or web site where we can read more about you?

• Personal Blog: http://deekdubberly.com/
• Church site’s blurb about me: http://eastwoodbaptistonline.com/about/meet-our-pastor/

What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church?  Is that identity changed?

• Born, raised, and educated as a Southern Baptist
• Served in three SBC churches
• Currently pastor SBC church

Are there any other pastoral staff?

• Nope, just me and my 35-40 parishioners.

Briefly, what is your approach to preaching?  Do you topical series?  Book by book?

• Expository, verse-by-verse, book-by-book on Sunday mornings
• Sunday nights are really here-and-there.  Some messages flow out of my QT’s, others out of books I’m reading or school projects I’m working on.
• I will throw in topical sermons for special occasions (i.e. Christmas, Sanctity of Life Sunday, etc.)

What is currently being preached on at your church?  Can we listen online?

• Just finished working through James: http://eastwoodbaptistonline.com/sermons/the-letter-of-james/
• Just began working through I Timothy: http://eastwoodbaptistonline.com/sermons/pauls-first-letter-to-timothy/
• Other misc. sermons archived here: http://deekdubberly.com/index.php/420/

What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?

• Old school, southern, rural, bang-it-out-on-the-piano hymns
• Example of Sunday special music here: http://eastwoodbaptistonline.com/2010/01/special-music-from-sunday-1-24-10/

Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?

• Centered upon the Word and the Word alone: preaching, singing, polity, etc.
• Warm, friendly, loving congregation
• Growing, exciting atmosphere

Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.

• Had a long-standing, faithful member pass away recently.  Our church ministered to the family well.  I was able to preach the Word faithfully at the service.  Church was encouraged by the testimony of a dear saint gone home.
• We set and exceeded a Christmas offering goal with every penny going to foreign missions.

An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

Bernice is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever had the privilege of serving as a pastor.  She has been in this role for longer than Israel was in the wilderness.

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I was just asking my mother how long she had been Sunday School secretary and she said she thought she started in 1965!!  45 years of collecting offering in our church is quite a long service.  She is a great example for all.